Iran and its Nuclear Programme

Country Profile

Iran officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in southern and Western Asia being the 18th largest country in the world in terms of area(area roughly equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined)The name Iran which in Persian means ' Land of the Aryans '

Capital - Tehran

Currency - Rial

Population * 78 Million

Official Language - Persian

Religion - Shia Branch of Islam

Government

The political system is based on the 1979 Constitution.The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. 

"Supreme Leader" is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war or peace,appoints the heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the 12 members of theGuardian Council.

Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the  Supreme Leader of Iran succeeding Ayatollah Khomeini(1st Supreme Leader of Iran) after Khomeini's death, elected as the Supreme Leader on June 4,1989 and holding office till date( Feb 16, 2012)

 

After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the President of Iran as the highest state authority whi is elected for a 4 year term and eligible for a second term.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the current President of Iran since August 2005(after June 2005 Presidential Elections and re-elected in the disputed 2009 Presidential Elections.

 The President appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers.8 Vice-Presidents serve under the President and a cabinet of 22 Ministers who must all be approved by legislature.

The legislature of Iran,National Consultative Assembly of Iran- Majlis in Persian(also called People's House or The Iranian Parliament) is a unicameral body comprises 290 members elected for a 4 year term.

 

Iran's Nuclear Programme

The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950s with the help of the USA as part of the 'Atoms For Peace '  program.The participation of the USA and Western European governments in Iran's nuclear program continued until the 1979 '' Iranian Revolution'' that toppled the Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi(Oct 26,1919-July 27,1980)who ruled Iran  from Sep 16,1941 until his overthrow by the '' Iranian Revolution'' on 11 Feb 11, 1979

 After the 1979 revolution, the Iranian Government temporarily disbanded elements of the program, and then revived it with less Western assistance than during the pre-revolution era.
Iran's nuclear program has included several research sites, 2 uranium mines, a research reactor  and uranium processing facilities that include 3 known uranium enrichment plants.

Iran's 1st nuclear power plant, Bushehr I Reactor was complete with major assistance of Russian government agency Rosatom  and officially opened on Sep 12, 2011.Under the terms of Russia–Iran agreement, approved by the IAEA , Russia will be responsible for operating the plant, supplying the nuclear fuel and managing the spent fuel for the next two or three years before passing full control to Iran.

 

Second enrichment plant

On Sep 21,2009, Iran informed the IAEA that it was constructing a 2nd enrichment facility. The following day (22 September) IAEA Director General ElBaradei informed the United States, and two days later (24 September) the United States, United Kingdom and France briefed the IAEA on an enrichment facility under construction at an underground location at Fordo, twenty miles north of  Qom. On 25 September, at the G-20 Summit, the three countries criticized Iran for once again concealing a nuclear facility from the IAEA .

Iran declares itself to be a nuclear state

On Feb 11,2010,during the celebrations in Tehran for the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran was now a "nuclear state.

Iran's Nuclear Programs Controversy

The controversy over Iran's nuclear programs centers in particular on Iran's failure to declare sensitive enrichment and reprocessing activities to the IAEA.Enrichment can be used to produce uranium for reactor fuel or (at higher enrichment levels) for weapons.Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and has enriched uranium to less than 5%, consistent with fuel for a civilian nuclear power plant.Iran also claims that it was forced to resort to secrecy after US pressure caused several of its nuclear contracts with foreign governments to fall through.

After the IAEA Board of Governors reported Iran's noncompliance with its safeguards agreement to the UN Security Council, the Council demanded that Iran suspend its nuclear enrichment activities while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has argued that the sanctions are "illegal," imposed by "arrogant powers," and that Iran has decided to pursue the monitoring of its self-described peaceful nuclear program through "its appropriate legal path," IAEA.

IAEA launched an investigation which found that Iran had systematically failed to meet its obligations under its NPT safeguards agreement to report those activities to the IAEA, although it also reported no evidence of links to a nuclear weapons program.

Tehran Nuclear Declaration

On May 17, 2010 Iran, Brazil, and Turkey issued a joint declaration "in which Iran agreed to send low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for enriched fuel for a research reactor." Iran reported the joint declaration to the IAEA on 24 May 2010

 

                               

  
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveils nuclear projects

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday Feb 15,2012 inaugurated three new nuclear projects, in a ceremony that was broadcast live on state television network IRIB

The President then opened, via a video-conference link-up, two other projects in the Natanz plant in central Iran.